George Hunter - The Sadist, the Hitman and the Murder of Jane Bashara

Jefferson, North Carolina

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e-ISBN: 978-1-4766-3328-2

2018 George Hunter and Lynn Rosenthal. All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Front cover: clockwise from top Bob Bashara is sentenced to 80240 months in prison on December 10, 2012 (David Coates / The Detroit News); Joseph Gentz in court, February 8, 2012 (Todd McInturf / The Detroit News); Jane Bashara in a photograph shown in court by the Wayne County Prosecutors Office.

Exposit is an imprint of McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina

Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640

www.expositbooks.com

This book is dedicated to Bev Rosenthal, a woman who radiates beauty both inside and out. She has been my greatest inspiration, my cheerleader, my confidant, and my best friend. I love you so much, my special mom.

I also dedicate this book to Gerald Rosenthal, one of the strongest men I know. Like my mom, he has a heart of gold. I love you, Dad.

Finally, but, in no way least, this book is dedicated to Roz and Charles and their warm, loving family, along with my incredible family. They have loved me unconditionally and accepted me as I am. Thank you for your patience, understanding, love and simply for being you. I love all of you so much.

Lynn Rosenthal

I would like to dedicate this book to my mom and dad, Roz and Charles; along with my wonderful brothers and sister, who helped get me through the tough times and forged me into the person I am today. Id also like to thank my in-laws, who embraced me from the start. Thank you all for everything.

George Hunter

Ive been on the Detroit crime beat for more than 20 years and Ive seen some terrible, inexplicable things, but Ive never covered a case as bizarre as the Jane Bashara murder. The craziness started immediately after the killing and got crazier, playing out like a cross between a Lifetime movie and an S&M novel.

Janes death was just starting to attract media attention when an editor approached me with a suggestion: I know everyone always assumes the husband is guilty, but Im telling you: dont waste your time looking at Bob Bashara. Ive known him for years, and hes a great guy. Theres no way he had anything to do with it.

Bob Bashara fooled a lot of people.

In the posh Grosse Pointe suburbs of Detroit, he was known as Big Bob, president of the local Rotary Club, church usher, soccer dad and successful real estate wheeler-dealer. He and his wife Jane were regulars at charity events and school functions. If there was a church committee to be formed, or a community fireworks show to be organized, Big Bob and Jane were on the spot. My editor wasnt alone in his support for Bob immediately after Janes body was found in a barren Detroit alley.

Despite Big Bobs reputation in some circles as a boisterous good guy, he had detractors. After the news of Janes murder broke, readers contacted me insisting Bobs public persona was a sham. They accused him of being a liar and a braggart who didnt pay his bills or gambling debts, and who pretended to be richer than he really was.

I checked in with a Detroit Police homicide source who told me he suspected Bob may have been involved in Janes murder. I couldnt put that in the paper just yet. I also didnt relay the cops suspicions to The Detroit News editor who had vouched for Bob. I figured if the detectives instincts were correct, my coworker would learn about his friend soon enough.

He learned about his friend, all right. Within a few days, Big Bobs carefully-crafted image began unraveling, layer by layer, seemingly with each new news cycle.

Early in the case my source in homicide told me Big Bob lived a double life as Master Bob in Detroits BDSM scene, operating a sex dungeon in the basement of one of his commercial properties. I asked the cop if Bobs sexual preference had anything to do with the murder, and he said he wasnt sure yet but they were looking into it.

It certainly wasnt newsworthy that the victims husband had a kinky side. That was his business, but I knew if the BDSM lifestyle was somehow connected to the case it would be a huge story. If it bleeds and reads like Fifty Shades Freed, it leads.

I got a hot tip the Sunday after Janes murder, two days after the Grosse Pointe Park police chief named Bob as a person of interest in the case. According to the source, Bob had a girlfriend named Rachel who worked as a secretary at Wayne State University. Bob and this woman supposedly were looking to buy a house together but couldnt afford the mortgage.

This was potential dynamite. The tipster didnt know the womans last name, so I scoured the universitys website, clicking from department to department searching for anyone named Rachel. I found a name: Rachel Gillett. I phoned my homicide source, who confirmed he was investigating Bobs relationship with the woman and that they were house-hunting but having mortgage issues.

We ran the story on the front page the next day, attributing the information to a police source involved in the investigation.

Then the moderator of The Hinky Meter blog posted ads and other writings Bob and Rachel had put on the BDSM dating website alt.com under the screen names MB (short for Master Bob) and MBs bella. One of the ads, written by Rachel, read: We are looking for a special girl, a third to round out our relationship someone who would live with us on a full-time permanent basis who is free to commit to being a part of a loving, nurturing male dominated home. Master Bob is the head of our relationship.

The local NBC affiliate ran a story about the Hinky Meters alt.com posts. My homicide source confirmed he was now focusing on Bobs BDSM activities as part of the murder investigation. With the kinky angle, the story caught fire nationally. People Magazines online headline screamed: Robert Basharas Shocking Double Life Is Exposed. Dateline NBC host Lester Holt called the story one of the most unusual cases weve ever had.

The bombshells dropped in the Bashara case often were, in a news sense, almost too good to be trueto the point where I sometimes had to step back and remind myself that at the heart of the matter a mother of two had been killed.

Thats in danger of getting lost in the vortex of a white-hot crime case. The people involved can become almost abstract as The Story becomes a beast that must constantly be fed. If you get one scoop, editors press you: What do you have today? Call your sources. A lot of times youre chasing someone elses scoops. There are great reporters in Detroit, and it can be tough keeping up.